Old Images: “Marla at the Shady Bar”

I recently came across some old photos I shot over the last twenty years or so.

Rather than let them sit on a CD for the rest of my life I figured I’d save them to my desktop, dust them off, and share them with you guys one image at a time.

Hope you enjoy them.

Marla at the Shady Bar

I shot this image of Marla in July 2000.

She’s sitting at my grandparents’ basement bar at 905 E. Doty Place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sitting on the bar behind her is an old Schlitz bar lamp, and just above her is a vintage PBR lamp. My grandmother moved out that house in 2002, about a year after my Grandpa Shady died, and I have no clue what happened to those lamps. I do know that I would’ve loved to have grabbed them.

Anyway, five of us (Jamie Coulson, Milan Zori, Jason Latta, Dave Crosland and myself, to be exact) drove up to Milwaukee that summer from Columbus, Ohio for a Fourth of July getaway. We took in Summerfest, visited with my family, and drank. A lot. A whole shit-ton, in fact.

Marla had been in Florida with her family when we drove up, so she flew in later in the week from Orlando. Marla is perpetually cold, so seeing her in a winter hat in the dead of summer isn’t that odd. In her defense, my grandparents probably had their AC blasting.

During that trip, a massive thunderstorm rolled through, and with it came a tornado warning. In the middle of it, we realized my grandparents only had non-alcoholic beer in their fridge. And so, in pouring down rain and with sirens blaring, we ventured out into the storm to pick up a case of shitty beer. Probably Red Dog.

This photo may (or may not) have been shot on that night, as we rode out the storm from the safety of my grandparents’ basement.

Years later, Marla and I would date. Years after that, we would breakup. And even more years later (to be read: the present day), we would remain great friends.

It’s hard to believe I’ve known Marla (and Milan, actually) for fifteen years now, and I’m grateful that we’ve remained close this long.

The image was shot on 120 negative film with my Mamiya RB67. I shot a bunch of images of my friends during that trip (you’ll probably see some of Jamie wearing a cowboy hat later on), but this might be the only one of Marla sitting at the bar. Or maybe not. Time has a way of blurring those kinds of details.

You can expect to see more images from this trip at some point in the future.